


Unintended

by MsLanna



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-04 18:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10996632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsLanna/pseuds/MsLanna
Summary: When Sara Ryder shows up un Kadara, Reyes Vidal is prepared to take full advantage of the young woman. Unfortunatley, his own budding feelings make this a little more compliacted than expected.Title because ofthe same song by Muse.





	1. Dance, Magic Dance

“What can be so important that-“ Reyes looked at his omni tool. Kheema had cut the connection leaving him with nothing but a vague warning to return to the main room immediately. He sighed and glanced at the crates stacked before him. He had taken meticulous care to plan this raid. It was the perfect excuse, doubly so.

If things went all wrong, he’d just have to tell one of his agents to retrieve the bottle of Mount Milgrom. He might need that excuse some other day. Not that he minded Ryder- who was he fooling? He did mind. Reyes disapproved of Sara Ryder in many ways, mostly because she was so bloody endearing.

Having a young and inexperienced Pathfinder had been a stroke of luck. Sara met all his expectations; she was honest, wanted to do the right thing, trusted easy enough. She was eager to help her people and was ready to take pointers on where to look. Or where not to look, provided you pointed her some other way. Everything went exactly as planned.

Except.

Except...

Reyes pinched the bridge of his nose. Sara Ryder was terminally charming. He was certain that half-seducing her to his side had been an excellent plan. It worked, too, as far as he could tell. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a two-way street. It was unlikely to end well. Sometimes he had to stop himself from searching her face for clues that she knew, that she was playing him as much as he played her, that she was only waiting for him to hang himself with his own rope.

Reyes didn’t want to hang. He preferred not to lose Sara either. There. Lose her. How did he even have her? He had made plans for tonight, obviously, but who knew what came of those with Keema’s emergency. An emergency he should concentrate on. It would distract him from thinking about Sara. No thinking about that bloody pathfinder witch that had somehow found a way past his safeguards.

Leaving the storage room Reyes put on his professional socialising face. With a soft smile on his lips, he almost fell down the few stairs into the main room. Sara Ryder was dancing on the tables. Only years of practice held his smile firmly in place. That woman was swinging it every which way, arms raised high over her head and obviously as intoxicated. He glanced at Umi.

The bartender of Kralla’s Song just shrugged. No trace of remorse. Sara had probably agreed to whatever the asari had given her. Not unlikely. Sara had a reckless streak, something wild and unpredictable. Reyes took a deep breath. No use thinking about that premium feature of his current heachache.

He had admittedly brought her along to be, among other things, a distraction, but this. By the stars, the woman could move. He’d have to find out how to get there without filling her up with alcohol all the way. It took willpower to dislodge his eyes from those moving hips and not get stuck on the arched back and, dammit, she was grinning as if she had just solved all of Heleus problems.

Nobody stopped him from approaching the table currently supporting the room’s number one entertainment. Most watchers kept a safe distance to maintain deniability. Something Reyes would have felt safer doing himself. But she was his plus one, his responsibility.

“Sara!”

She did not react. After a moment she seemed to be talking to herself. Or, not quite herself.

“Sara,” he tried again with the same result. “SAM, is she even responsive?”

“Only to stimuli that match her current wishes,” the automated voice came from his omni tool. “The Pathfinder seems unwilling to consider slowing down. I have addressed the subject.”

Reyes believed them. “I need to get her down form there safely.”

“This might be a problem. She does not want to hold still.”

“I only need a second, Reyes said. “Tell her something, anything, that will stop her if only for a moment.”

“As you wish.”

Whatever SAM told Sara, it worked. She froze in the middle of an outrageous movement, making it hard to concentrate on just grabbing her. But one nudge at her knees and Sara folded neatly into his waiting arms. She was giggling.

“Reyes!” She threw her arms around him, nearly toppling them both. “You finally show up. I started without you.”

She wriggled free of his grip. Letting her go was the only safe option. That woman could move. It made his mouth dry. Consequently there was little coming out of it, when Sara climbed onto the table again, doing her best to drag him along.

“Come on, spoilsport. It’s a _party_!”

The way Reyes saw it, he had exactly two options. One, dance with her on the table which meant drawing too much attention, making a complete idiot out of himself and most importantly, quite likely violate her body autonomy in unforgiveable ways. His eyes were wandering up her legs already.

Or, two, he could sit here, try to look embarrassed while enjoying the view and make sure she got out of this safely. Reyes sighed. Headache, heartache – Sara Ryder was more than he had expected to handle. But hell if he let anybody else do it. He resigned himself to watching her. A cruel fate when he wanted to do so much more.


	2. Requited, Unrequested

Sara Ryder had more stamina than expected. Reyes was wavering in his appreciation for that fact, partly because it exacted a lot of self-control on his part and also because it was unclear how much of it was due to Umi’s experimental drink mixing.

When Sara finally had enough of dancing, she almost toppled into his arms. The woman needed air. Reyes led her out, listening to her repeatedly telling him how he had missed out on the best party in Heleus ever.

The smelly air of Kadara seemed to help sobering her up, though. Sara wrinkled her nose. “What did you have for dinner, Vidal?” She clutched at the rail and after a laboured attempt to glre at him, dissolved into giggles.

Reyes crossed his arms protectively and shook his head. “Sara Ryder, this was not what I had in mind for this evening.”

“Ooooh, what did you have planned?” Her head lolled back and she did her best to get it back under control. “You dumped me in that place, cheater, all on my own.” She tried to poke his chest but had to clutch his lapels to stay upright.

“Not even Drack to keep me company. I always get bar fights with Drack.” Her tone turned mopey as she shook his lapel feebly. “Where were you Reyes?”

Reyes suppressed a sigh. She did definitely not look happy any longer. And her question hit home harder than he liked. He had left her to her own devices after all. Dumped her, as she called it and within the first five minutes after arriving.

“I was looking for something,” he finally replied.

“Did you at least find it?” She turned to rest her arms on the rail. The manoeuvre took some balancing.

“I did not.” It wasn’t completely a lie. “And even if I did, it would be no good now.”

“Why?”

“I was looking for a bottle of very rare whisky.”

“I like whisky,” Sara mumbled into her arms.

“I know. But you are in no condition to drink any,” Reyes replied. “Not for a long while.”

Sara deflated. She slumped into a mess of loosely linked parts, breathing heavily. “Why did you come here, Reyes?” The words were almost swallowed whole by her jacket.

Reyes looked down at her, thinking. Did she mean Heleus or the party? Did she mean the outside or just why had he come back at all after leaving her alone? There were many inconvenient truths in those answers. He decided to go for the easy way out. “I came to Heleus to be someone.”

She didn’t react. Reyes wasn’t even sure she had heard him. But the curve of her neck was rising and falling with her breath, strands of hair playing on her skin. Before he knew what he was doing his hand reached out, his fingers ready to move one of those unruly strands. He stopped himself an inch from her skin. And there his hand hovered in the silence that should have been filled with her answer. As if those words would be enough to bridge the final space between them.

The words never came and the silence stretched out between them. “Is Andromeda everything you hoped it would be?” Reyes tried to fill it.

Sara snorted. It was not a happy sound and caused her body to start shaking.

Reyes got her. Being invited to a party, being abandoned and searing to oneself to have an amazing time anyway. To actually have an amazing time only to realise when you came down, that whatever you had hoped for, imagined for the evening had not come to pass and it hurt more than you wanted. Still, on the other side of this equation, he did not know what to say.

Gently he lowered his hand to her shoulders, moving it in slow circles. Three words were probably enough to make half of this go away, but he didn’t find the courage to say them. It would be admitting to having lost the fight. Reyes Vidal never lost, not to anybody, certainly not to haphazard Pathfinders with contagious grins and a reckless lust for life.

He sighed. It would never fly. And if it did, it would just crash and burn the moment she realised who he was. Better let her burn a little now. It would save her a lot of pain later. Him, too. The day he began to think selfless thoughts would be the end of his whole operation. It would not happen. Not today. Not ever.

“I am sorry.”

It took Reyes a moment to realise that this had been his voice. He was biting his tongue, angry with his own carelessness, but the effect on Sara was immediate and undeniable. She calmed, arched and stretched her neck a little into his touch. The effect on him was even worse. Sex he could handle, keeping things casual, but there was no place in the world of the Charlatan for intimacy.

And yet, here he was. Standing desolately outside of one of Sloane Kelly’s infamous parties, fingertips caressing the nape of Sara’s neck and not regretting a lick of it. But Sara deserved better. He watched her still form, praying that he would find a way to make this work for her, a way that would not hurt her. Reyes closed his eyes because he could not see it. At least this was a most selfish move, in tune for the Charlatan.

“Do you like me?”

The question hit Reyes out of the blue.

But Sara straightened. Her eyes were rimmed red, dark patches a testament to her state on her face. She turned to him, took his lapels again and looked him in the eyes. “Do. You. Like. Me?”

He should have put his hands over her shoulders. But one of them was already cupping her neck and Reyes gave in, wrapping the other around her waist. He was not fooling anybody, was he? Reyes drank in her eyes. “Yes.”

Any further explanation fell into her hair as Sara pulled close, holding on tightly with her face against his shoulder. She was almost shaking again.

Reyes exhaled a long sigh cradling her in his arms. He would burn for this, no mistaking. And he deserved every bit of it.


	3. Whith A Bang

The end was nigh. The feeling of doom did not leave Reyes as he waited in the dark. The trap was well prepared, he would win Kadara tonight. Still his mind kept wandering to the price he would pay. An insistent voice kept nagging, asking if it was worth it.

Of course it was. This was what he had been working for ever he set foot into Heleus, hell, long before that. He was someone, finally. His own boss, the head of his own organisation. It was by no means flawless, but for a gang of outlaws it was working just fine.

It had taken him over a year to get to where he was. Sloane ruled Kadara with an iron fist. Working against her was dangerous, she had eliminated countless of is agents. It was nice to see that Sara got along with her somehow. But then Sara got along with everybody. It was a surprise the kett hadn’t fallen to her charm. But then kett never stooped to talk. Their loss.

And soon, his too. He should have told her, somehow. Sara would not have taken it well, she disliked being lied to, there was no guaranteed she’d ever forgive him. He’d run all the scenarios in his head. But they all ended the same. He was the Charlatan. He was not the man she thought he was. He wasn’t half as good as she had thought and vouchsafed.

Oh, he wanted to be. Reyes sighed. He did want to be the man Sara saw not only because she loved that version of him. That eyes was a better man, somebody who would not only run a planet, but do it well, a Reyes who cared.

He should have ended it. Sloane’s party had been the beginning of the end, but how could he have turned her down after that? The selfish truth was that he loved her company, the raucous tumble, carefree giggles, and soft taste of her lips. There was nothing he wanted less than to have less of that.

But he would, after this day, have to live without. Who would blame him for overindulging in the face of approaching doom? Well, Sara would and rightly so.

Time trickled by giving him too much time to think thoughts that were unwelcome. By the time he heard Sloane and Sara approach a weaker man might have given up on his plan. But Reyes had worked too long and too hard to make this happen. He watched the two women walk into the middle of the cage, scanning their surroundings. Sara’s companions were standing guard at the mouth of the cave.

It was a good tactic but would not help them. Reyes had many paths out of this place and a shuttle waiting in case things went south. More south than expected. For a moment he just watched Sara. A smile would have been nice but she was too concentrated on the business at hand. Of course she expected a trap. She was not all wrong.

Wiping the smile from his own face, Reyes stepped into the light. “You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Sloane tried to put him down but Sara got it.

“They’re one and the same,” she said, not sounding that surprised. But before he could think about that, she followed it with an accusation, “This whole time you’ve been lying to me.”

“Not about everything.” Reyes couldn’t stop himself from trying. “You know who I really am.”

“You said you wanted to settle this,” Sloane cut to the chase.

So this was where things went south. As expected, Sloane agreed to the duel. She was confident in her abilities and so was Reyes. Which was why he had no intention at all to give her even a chance to win.

He glanced at Sara. She looked worried and tense. Reyes wanted to smooth down those lines around her mouth and tell her all would be fine. But had made his decision. One he might regret personally, but on a professional level, it was the only way. He would not put his personal wishes over the fate of Kadara, no matter how tempting that was. The people of Kadara deserved better. He deserved better.

Sloane began to circle him. Reyes followed suit, carefully lining her up with the hidden sniper. He dared another glance at Sara. She was looking straight at him but sad, disappointed. As if being the Charlatan alone had shattered any positive image she had of him. It hurt. But it wasn’t the fist time he’d loved and lost. It hurt, but he would survive.

With a sudden the sniper’s shot rang through the cave. Reyes briefly saw Sloane stumble, then a fist hit him the face. He looked at Sara, glaring at him with anger in her eyes and her second fist incoming. Too surprised to defend himself, it hit him in the face as well, her other aiming for his stomach. He deflected it badly.

But Sara was far from done. More hits rained down on him. Unwilling to hit her in return, Reyes yielded ground to her, slowly backing into a crouch. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sloane sputtering, trying to get up. Then Initiative soldiers blocked his view.

Not for long, because Sara took advantage of her towering position to lock his arm behind his back. Her weight was not enough to force him face first into the floor, her control of his arm did. Still, not even the clod dirt against his face brought any sense into the events.

Cuffs clicked behind him and he was dragged upright again by an Initiative soldier. Another was holding on to Sara’s arm tightly. She looked ready to pounce him again and not in a good way. Sloane was also standing. She was brushing dirt of her closes as she approached Sara.

“You were right about the cheating,” she said, nodding at him. “Let’s just be glad he didn’t tell the sniper to go for the head.”

Sara blinked slowly and tore her glare away from Reyes. “Immediate death leaves no time for you to recognise you were bested.”

So that was what had taken them so long. Bullet proof vests and Initiative backup. Reyes looked around, a little surprised to find no Outcast supporters. “What now?” He asked.

“Now you do what you promised,” Sara almost hissed. “You fight a clean and honest duel against Sloane with all of Kadara watching.”

“Sara-”

“Don’t Sara me.” She strained in the grip of the Initiative soldier. “You-” She took a deep breath trying to calm down. “You know. Take him away.”

The last Reyes saw of her was Sara talking to Sloane. Then his thoughts wandered to escape. Kadara was his home and there was always a way out of any prison. Unfortunately, that was not how it went. The Initiative had dropped a new cluster of buildings north of Kadara port. He was brought into one of the prefab units that had been designed as a prison.

“Protective custody,” the guard told him. “Half of Kadara wants you dead and the other half is undecided.”

Reyes sat down on the bunk. This was definitely not how he had expected this to end. It looked as if the only thing he had achieved was losing Sara. Good going. And if he had understood correctly, the duel was still going to happen. His shot at glory was only postponed. He put his head in his hands. Beating Sloane in an honest fight would be much more difficult.

But he had time to plan, did he not? There was absolutely nothing to be done otherwise. He looked at the blank walls and door. He could come up with a solid plan. Provided he could tear his thought away from Sara long enough. Disappointment, sadness, rage – those were not his favourite looks on her.

But he did deserve nothing less. The price he paid for a slice of happiness. And well worth it. Reyes chuckled sadly. Damned well worth every bit of it.


	4. With A Whimper

The door opened unexpectedly. Reyes blinked in the dim light. He would have expected a guard to announce any visitors, but the figure slipped into the room silently. Sara. Her movements gave her away even in this abysmal light. Reyes smiled before he realised it. Sara.

She came over to the bunk and just sat down next to him with a long sigh. She opened her mouth to speak several times but settled for shaking her head in the end.

“Why are you here?” Reyes asked.

“Give you the lay of the lands. Sloane got a complete run-down, so.” She didn’t look up.

“Is Sloane also locked up?”

She shook her head again. “We’re not afraid she’ll run. She is certain she will win.”

“And so are you?” Reyes regretted saying it when Sara winced. He put a hand on her shoulder fully expecting her to shake it off. She didn’t. Instead Sara hung her head a little lower. “A bit more confidence in my abilities would be appreciated,” he teased, squeezing her gently.

“Reyes!” There was too much pain in her eyes when she looked at him. “This is serious. There will be a duel tomorrow and one of you will die.”

“It is not my-”

“It was your idea,” she interrupted him.

“I never meant to play fair.”

“And why did you ever think that would fly with me?” Her eyes searched his face.

“I-” Reyes hesitated. “I didn’t think it would.”

“But you did it anyway.” Sara looked down again, the curve of her neck bordering on indecent exposure.

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I liked the way you looked at me. I was afraid that would change.” His fingers slowly ventured towards her neck. “I did not know how to tell you anything. Not how much you mean to me, not what I do for a living.” He retracted his hand, clasping both of them securely in his lap. “You deserve better.”

“So you spring it on me like that,” Sara murmured. “What did you expect would happen?”

“This is better than what I expected,” Reyes smiled. “Well, not the prison part, but you still talking to me. I expected to lose you, but this was the only way to liberate Kadara.”

“It never occurred to you to tell me,” Sara said. “You never even thought about asking me to help-”

“Sara!” He took her shoulders barely stopping himself from shaking her. “I would never ask you to get entangled in Kadara politics like that, They are dirty and deadly. I knew Sloane would bring you, but there was only a handful of people, all easily silenced...”

His voice trailed off. She was staring at him intently, emotions flickering behind her eyes. What had she expected? That he would not try to protect her? That he would not bribe or kill anybody who threatened her? He was the bloody Charlatan and she was important. To him.

“What do you want, Sara?” Reyes asked finally, his tone heavy with resignation.

“You.”

The answer was unexpected, as was her bluntness. Reyes searched her face. “Here and now?”

A grin stole over her face, reminding him of the reason he was in this fix in first place. He cupped her face with his hand, gently pulling her closer. She did not resist and her grin broadened until it pressed against his lips.

It was not what he had intended, was not perfectly set up with all the leisure in the world to make it an extravagant experience. But Her lips were soft against his and demanding, returning his kiss with ferocious desperation. It was not what the text books suggested. But Reyes knew that nothing would ever be as important as the feeling of her skin under his fingers now.

Sara moaned into his kiss waking the storm within. Reyes pushed her down on the bunk, feeding her hunger with his own. Her fingers took hold of his hair, pulling at it just hard enough. With a low growl, Reyes went for her throat.

Maybe it was just the possibility that he died tomorrow. Reyes would not question his luck and her decisions. Because maybe he did die tomorrow but then they’d have this. She would have this and would he make it worth remembering. And if he lived, well, they would have a lifetime to work things out.

 

* * *

 

Reyes was tired; tired in a happy way, but he could not sleep. The duel was worrying him. He counted it as a job very well done that Sara was safely asleep in his arms. She looked relaxed. Not carefree, but then the coming day weighed on her as well.

“SAM,” Reyes whispered into the darkness.

“Yes, Mr Vidal.”

“Sh.” The voice of the AI felt like thunder in the silence. “Can we speak without waking her?”

“Of course, Mr Vidal,” SAM replied. “What do you want to talk about.”

“I need you to promise me something.” Reyes looked at Sara’s face, smiling.

“I need to know what it is first,” SAM said.

“If I die tomorrow,” Reyes closed his eyes shortly, “if I die tomorrow, promise me to look after Sara.”

“Of course, Mr Vidal, that is one of my duties.”

“No, I mean.” He sighed. “I don’t want her to have her heart broken again by-”

“A shady bastard with lies for lips?” SAM suggested.

It hurt, but they were not wrong. “Yeah, that.” Reyes sighed. “I should have told her sooner. That I’m the Charlatan. Before she had to find out like that at the duel.”

“I can inform you that Sara did know,” SAM replied. “Noticing her increased interest in you, I collocated data that was irrefutable long before the duel.”

“But.” Reyes looked at the sleeping woman in his arms. “Why did she never say?”

“She was hoping you would tell her after all.” If an AI could sound disappointed, SAM did.

“And I did not.” He sighed. “Well, I guess I am one great disappointment after the other.”

“Correct,” SAM confirmed. “Though monitoring her vital signals this night, it seems that at least one thing went satisfactory.”

Shamed by an AI. Reyes was not even mad. SAM did have a point, What did he have to offer? Only lies and great sex. Not enough for Sara Ryder.

“Just promise me, SAM, ok?”

“I will do my best, Mr Vidal.”

Reyes sank back into the bed, nestling closer to Sara. She deserved so much more. So there, less lies, more than sex. If he lived. Reyes fell asleep holding on to the one thing that was worth anything, even changing for.

 

* * *

 

The duel was set in broad daylight in the middle of Kadara Port. Everybody had been informed and somewhat invited. Initiative militia kept the peace and Outcasts and the Collective on their respective sides. Keema was standing at his side, Sloane was accompanied by Kaetus.

Sara stood in the middle of the square, empty eyes staring into the void just before her face. Reyes could not forget those eyes looking up at him, looking down on him, burning him each move they made. The contrast was depressing. If he had known how, Reyes would have spared Sara the whole event.

“This is how it goes,” she declared. “The winner’s group gets the Port, the Initiative supports this decision because it will involve less bloodshed than an outright gang war. The losing side will be able to apply for amnesty and a new start under new rules.”

She looked into the factions, but Reyes doubted she saw anything. “If the duel is won by cheating, I will execute the cheating party myself and the second of the cheated leader will be granted authority. I want to see a clean, honest duel. I mean it.”

Her head moved from Sloane to him, nodding at each of them. Then Sara stepped back, beckoning them into the middle of the square. The onlookers were ushered away, though some would obviously rather face death and lose a great observation spot.

Reyes nodded at Sloane who acknowledged him minimally. Then they turned their backs and Sara counted them in. Her voice was flatter than that of an VI programmed by a first grader. There was no time to think about that. Reyes closed his eyes briefly, rattling through all the plans and tricks he had come up with during the mostly sleepless night.

On command, Reyes whipped around in an evasive manoeuvre, drew his gun and pointed it in the general direction of Sloane who had also taken evasive action. Unlike her, he got lucky, the muzzle of his gun directed more at her head than hers did at his. Years of practice pointed his finger at her temple automatically and pulled the trigger.

His shot was impossible loud. Time ground to a standstill, ticking off milliseconds as the bullets travelled the distance. But it hii home. Reyes dared to look at Sara. Here eyes wide in shock. Then the pain hit him in the stomach. Still looking at Sara, he folded and the world winked out.


	5. Epilogue

Hell was surprisingly soft and smelled horribly of antiseptic. Reyes tried to move, but that was when the expected pain kicked in. So this was it.

“He’s waking up,” a woman’s voice said.

“Thank you, Lexi,” another voice replied, one Reyes had not expected to hear again any time soon or ever.

Reyes pried one eye open as somebody took his hand. So it was actually heaven that smelled of antiseptic and for unknown reasons the angels wore blasto tank tops this season. “Sara.” He smiled until he tried to sit up. Pain seared through his stomach, making him wince and crumble.

The unexpected reward was Sara putting her other hand on his shoulder gently. Reyes noted that apart from the blanket, he wasn’t even dressed. Thanks to the pain throbbing through his abdomen, this would not be a problem, though.

“I’ll give you the short version,” Sara said smiling.

Reyes smiled back. With her hands on his skin and that smile on her face she could give him the version starting at the creation of the universe and he’d count himself blessed.

“You won, Sloane’s dead. She got in a shot though, stomach, went right through, missed you spine by two inches.” Her smile became taut and her grip tightened. “Keema has Kadara until you return. The Collective has officially taken over, Outcast either convert or run. The Initiative helps keeping order.”

And you are still talking to me,” Reyes decided to go to the heart of the matter.

“I do.” Sara bit her lip and tried to swallow rising tears.

Reyes returned her squeeze, relishing in the feeling of their intertwined fingers. “I am sorry.”

To his surprise Sara sank down, resting her face on his chest. “I sweat to god, Reyes, if you ever do something this stupid again-”

“Sh.” He managed to raise his hand enough to cup her head. Her breath tickled on his skin, bringing back memories. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Liar.”

“No more lies about the important stuff,” he assured her, running his fingers through her hair. This whole duel business had gone inexplicably better than expected.

“You’re the Charlatan.”

“I am,” he confirmed. “And now everybody knows because of you and I am somewhat – legitimate.” The last word tasted uncomfortable. But Sara chuckled against his chest, a feeling worth a lot more discomfort. Reyes inhaled and the air smelled of her hair.

“What now?” Sara asked, her lips grazing his skin.

“I don’t know,” Reyes replied truthfully. “But whatever your doc has given me starts to wear off. And I hate to admit it, but I am tiring already.”

Sara sat up. She looked at him with less worry and he drank up her smile. “One serving of my very own medicine and I’ll get Lexi for you.”

Her kiss made his pulse sky-rocket. It was unlikely to be healthy in his state. Still he didn’t want to stop, when he couldn’t even put enough strength into his arm to hold her.

Sara pulled back, running her fingers through his hair one more time. “No more lies about the important stuff. This won’t be easy.”

“It won’t,” Reyes agreed. “But it will be worth it.”

“I will let you know.” She left with a wink.

Reyes closed his eyes. So he was not dead and ruling Kadara. He had not lost the most spectacular woman in his life and she was ready to make an effort. So he better shape up. No third-rate shady bastard got to break Sara’s heart, and that included him.


	6. ADDENDUM: What She Did In the Shadows

“The Charlatan?” Sara was livid.

“I am afraid so, Pathfinder.” SAM’s voice was still calm.

“And he had how many opportunities to tell me?”

“I can only calculate an approximate-”

“That was a rhetorical question,” Sara cut him off. So. The Charlatan. Reyes. One and the same. And he did think it in no way necessary to tell her. He was bloody well dating her, smooches and petting included and he did not tell her. She was ready to strangle him; a little, not lethally.

Sara took a deep breath. Her third-rate smuggler boyfriend was a hardcore criminal running a fucking syndicate that did drugs, kidnapping, torture and murder. Well.

“I apologise if I overstepped my boundaries,” SAM said into the silence. “It seemed prudent watching your growing investment in Mr Vidal.”

Yeah, that. Growing investment was a polite way to describe the crush she had on that idiot. Sara sat down on her bed, putting her head in her hands. Murder idiot. She should have better taste. Only she didn’t. The very long list of despicable criminal activities Reyes was part of did nothing, absolutely nothing.

Okay, almost nothing. It brought up her own history of killing people that were not kett and strong-arming people for favours and generally twisting events to suit her purposes. Ouch. Pathfinder Ryder – not quite the epitome of good. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t claim the high ground here. Which she would.

Damn that bloody idiot. He really could have told her. He really should. After all she had the whole Initiative behind her, easy help to make him ruler of Karada. She could even justify: Sloane would never allow an outpost, but Reyes would. Of course he would, they’d have him by his balls.

Sara had to shoo some unrelated and improper ideas away. Maybe some prodding and prompting would help? But no, if Reyes wanted to dig his own grave, she’d give him as much rope as he needed.

 

* * *

 

“Settle this?” Sara looked at Sloane. “It’s probably a trap.”

“Don’t you say?” Sloane asked back heavy with sarcasm.

“I doubt the Charlatan plans to settle things honestly,” Sara went on. “SAM, any clues?”

“The meeting point is in a cave in Draullir,” SAM replied. “It could be an assassination. Nobody would notice.”

“Nobody except me and my team,” Sara mused. So he counted on her siding with him? Did he really think it would be that easy? Was he willing to risk their relationship to defeat Sloane? She was so mad at him. One word, or maybe a few and all this could have been avoided. But no, he insisted on doing this the hard way.

“He thinks he owns you Pathfinder,” Sloane mocked.

“Yeah, he does, doesn’t he.” But they would see about that.

“Anything you want to tell me?”

Sara shook her head. “Casting around suspicions won’t help.”

In theory, she didn’t know and had nothing to tell Sloane. An in practice, she would kick Reyes arse so hard he’d have trouble sitting for weeks. Who did he think he was. Playing her like that. But, goddammit, two could play that game and she would not lose her idiot gangster boss boyfriend to his own stupidity.

_My scans show no force of the Collective at the meeting point,_ SAM informed Sara on their private channel. _One shuttle is positioned at an escape exit, I cannot tell how many people are inside from this distance._

“He’ll want to have it look somewhat official and he’ll want to give you a false sense of security.” Sara thought out loud. “Two people, a supposedly neutral party, sounds like a duel to me.”

“I can win that,” Sloane snorted.

“Not if he plans to cheat from the beginning. But,” Sara smiled tightly, “I won’t allow that to happen. If you agree to an honest duel, I will make sure you get it.”

“And how do you think you can do that?”

“SAM, tell the Initiative to send backup pronto. Just enough to safely apprehend ten people. Alive,” she added quickly. “I will need you to put on something bulletproof, Sloane. And then we will force the Charlatan to keep his word.”

Sara paced in the throne room, her mind racing. There was no guarantee this would work. And even if it did, there was still a chance Reyes would not make it out alive. That gormless tit. Setting up something like this and not thinking about her place in all this. She was Initiative, she was a force for law and order, she could never let this slide.

It made her wonder if he even knew her. A painful burst of doubt, because if he didn’t know who she was as a person, than nobody did. Reyes was her chance to be herself, to leave the Pathfinder behind and just enjoy being a young woman in a strange galaxy. She didn’t want to lose that. He had to know-

Sara took a deep breath. He did know. And if he had kept her in the dark out of a misplaced ideal of protecting her, his arse would not be the only part receiving a good kicking. She was tempted to ask Sam for verification but how could he calculate human behaviour when she couldn’t either? And Reyes was protective, that she knew. A smile stole onto her lips. Didn’t she know...


End file.
